Zakat for students of means

Question

Most students are such that they own the Shar‘i nisab: sadaqat al-fitr and the sacrifice are wajib upon them, and begging is haram for them. Yet in spite of this the students cannot bear their own expenses, and for this reason they take assistance from the Dar al-‘Ulum. Some fall into debt during their studies; people give them zakat money explicitly, and they take it and pay off their debts. May such students take assistance and, taking zakat and obligatory charities, use them for their needs, debts and the like?

Answer

Students who are owners of the nisab in their homeland but not here, and who cannot even have it sent from their homeland, are recipients of zakat, of the price of sacrificial hides and of sadaqat al-fitr. If these things are given to them — and they certainly are given — the wajib is discharged.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.